FBI had doubts about probable cause for Mar-a-Lago raid, emails show

The FBI under the Biden administration questioned whether it had established probable cause to search President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in 2022 but moved forward with the raid anyway after pressure from senior Justice Department officials, according to newly declassified emails released Tuesday by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA).

The emailed communications, which Grassley’s office received from the FBI and the DOJ, show that agents in the months leading up to the raid did not believe the legal standard for a search warrant had been met but were overruled by prosecutors during former President Joe Biden‘s time in office.